Frequency and parasite load of Toxoplasma gondii in hemodialysis patients based on RE gene by real-time PCR

Abstract T. gondii is one of the dangerous parasitic agents in immunocompromised patients (hemodialysis, diabetes, cancer, AIDS). Therefore, due to the severe and fatal complications of toxoplasmosis in these individuals, it is necessary to calculate of parasite load in patients. This study aimed to investigate the frequency and Parasite load of T. gondii in hemodialysis patients based on RE gene by Real-time PCR in Iran. For the purpose of the study, 212 whole blood samples, including 106 hemodialysis patients (HD) and 106 healthy groups (HG), were collected. The procedure was performed in 2 steps. Step 1: Obtaining a standard curve and Step 2: Determining the parasitic load and prevalence of T. gondii (gene RE) in the study groups by Real-time PCR. Statistical evaluations were performed with SPSS (ver. 20.0, Chicago, IL, USA). Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for categorical data. A P-value